Tom Faranda's Folly

New Appalachian Trail speed record; crushing the old one(s)

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Tom Faranda
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Wow an unsupported "hike" that wiped out both the supported and unsupported records. McConaughy is a former Boston College cross country and track runner. he's in his mid-20's now and averaged 48 miles a day.

Joe mcconaghy

Joe ‘Stringbean’ McConaughy, a well-known speed hiker, set a new record on the Appalachian Trail today. He hiked the 2,190-mile route in an unofficial fastest known time (FKT) of 45 days, 12 hours, 15 minutes.

And this from the Washington Post –

A former Boston College cross-country runner has traversed the 2,190-mile (3,524-kilometer) Appalachian Trail in record time after a sleepless, 37-hour sprint to the top of Maine’s Mount Katahdin.

His unofficial time beats the previous best by about 10 hours and McConaughy says he did it without outside help. He says he mailed his food and supplies before starting in Georgia.

The Seattle native used global-positioning data and social media time stamps to back his claim. The Appalachian Trail Conference doesn’t keep official records.

Comments

3 responses to “New Appalachian Trail speed record; crushing the old one(s)”

  1. Denice Cannon Avatar
    Denice Cannon

    I’m disappointed. I thought you broke the old record!

    Reply
  2. tom faranda Avatar
    tom faranda

    To quote Maxwell Smart, “Missed it by that much.”

    Reply
  3. Greg Seymour Avatar
    Greg Seymour

    I was fortunate to run into Stringbean during my thru-hike this year. I was told he was in the area so I got to say hi and wish him luck as he flew by me. This was just after the Whites.
    With so much uncertainty about other hikers’ FKT attempts I am glad this one is uncontested.

    Reply

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